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Cough in an infant without fever: possible causes and treatment methods. What to give a baby for a cough

For every mother, the health of her child comes first. The mother's worries are especially strong when it comes to the health of her infant. If a baby develops a cough, this should not be ignored. It is necessary to recognize the causes of cough and promptly take measures to eliminate it. After all, if appropriate assistance is not provided in time, complications may arise, and the baby’s health will be under serious threat.
Cough, as you know, is divided into dry and wet. It is necessary to track how often the baby coughs and how exactly he coughs. Usually, by the sound of a cough, you can determine whether a child has a cold or whether something is preventing his respiratory tract from functioning normally. In addition, an important role is played by whether the infant’s cough is accompanied by an increase in body temperature or not. If the mother cannot independently determine the nature of the cough and identify its causes, then she should resort to outside help, namely the help of a pediatrician.

In fact, besides a common cold, there are many reasons why a baby may develop a cough. The main causes of cough in an infant:
— Inflammation of the respiratory tract. Inflammatory processes in the upper respiratory tract lead to the child having difficulty breathing, and the baby begins to wheeze and cough. And if help is not provided in time, the child may even suffocate.
— Inflammation of the middle ear. Cough in this case is the body’s reaction to this type of inflammation. It is very simple to determine that a baby has inflammation of the middle ear: you need to press your finger on the earlobe. A healthy child will react to this action completely calmly, while a child who is worried about ear pain will scream and cry.
— Polluted or dry air in the apartment. Excessively dry air can cause a baby to constantly have a sore throat, resulting in the baby constantly coughing. In addition, the air in the apartment must be clean. It is necessary to exclude all repair work around the house until the baby grows up - the child should not inhale the smell of industrial paint. In addition, it is strictly forbidden to smoke in the apartment if there is a baby in the family, because inhaling harmful substances is very dangerous for his health. Therefore, if, apart from coughing, no other symptoms of illness are observed, before sounding the alarm, you should pay attention to the air quality not only in the baby’s room, but throughout the entire apartment.

— Foreign body stuck in the throat. This is perhaps one of the most dangerous causes of cough in an infant, no less dangerous than inflammation of the respiratory tract and middle ear. In this case, you should act very quickly, because the child’s life is at risk.
— An emerging cold or viral infection. This is perhaps the most common reason why a baby coughs, indicating that the baby is starting to get sick with a cold or flu. With colds and acute respiratory viral infections, the child’s cough practically does not bother him during the day, but it worsens in the morning, after waking up, and in the evening, before going to bed. Sometimes even at night a cough prevents the baby from sleeping peacefully. At the same time, the baby's throat becomes inflamed. An increase in body temperature is often observed.

How to help a baby if he is coughing?

It is possible to take any measures to treat and prevent cough only after the true causes of its occurrence have been established. Thus, in case of inflammation of the upper respiratory tract, surgical intervention by experienced doctors is necessary. If there is a suspicion that the cause of the baby’s cough is inflammation of the middle ear, it is also necessary to urgently take the baby to the hospital.

If a foreign body is stuck in the throat, you need to immediately call an ambulance, or take the child to the hospital yourself. You can only trust a specialist doctor to remove an object stuck in your throat. It is unacceptable to try to pull it out at home, and even more so to knock the child on the back so that the object comes out on its own. Such actions can lead to the fact that the foreign body, on the contrary, will go even deeper and block the child’s breathing.

If the cough is the result of an incipient cold or acute respiratory viral infection, then you can provide the baby with medical care at home, provided that the baby does not have complications or high fever. You can, for example, rub your baby’s chest and legs with baby warming balm. How to help a baby clear his throat? To alleviate the baby's condition, children's drinking paracetamol should be given at night. It will have a calming effect, so your baby will sleep peacefully at night. However, before treating an infant’s cough at home, even with a seemingly harmless cold, you should consult a doctor, and he will tell you what to give the infant for a cough (after all, most medications are contraindicated for infants). Perhaps, at the initial stage of the disease, it will be enough for the baby to take cough syrups made from medicinal herbs. During illness, you need to give your child more to drink - juices, water, mother's milk.

If a child’s cough does not stop within a week, then you need to seek help from a doctor again, as the disease will progress and lead to complications, and may even become chronic. It is especially dangerous for a baby if the cough is accompanied by a high body temperature. The doctor will examine the baby, make an accurate diagnosis and prescribe medication appropriate for the child’s age.

How to prevent cough in an infant?

As a rule, in the autumn-spring period, all people are most susceptible to colds. During this period, infants have the hardest time, since their immunity is still developing, and the child’s body is not yet able to independently fight all bacteria and viruses.
To prevent frequent illnesses and coughs in an infant, parents should adhere to the following recommendations:

Monitor the baby's personal hygiene. You should bathe your baby every day until he reaches six months, and change diapers and nappies in a timely manner.
Follow the baby’s daily routine appropriate for his age. The baby must have a certain sleep and wakefulness routine (the child must always be put to bed at the same time) and a meal schedule (breakfast, lunch, dinner, as well as two additional snacks are required).
If possible, take your baby for a walk every day in the fresh air. Walking outside plays a significant role in strengthening the immune system in children.
Feed the baby only warm food. Drinking and food for the baby should not be cold or hot - you should always taste the food before giving it to the baby.
Breastfeed your baby more often, including at night. Breastfeeding helps to naturally strengthen the child’s immunity - the longer the baby feeds on mother’s milk, the less often he will get sick, because breast milk contains all the nutrients and elements necessary for the child’s body.
Ventilate the children's room daily, even in the cold season. It is recommended to ventilate the apartment twice a day - best in the morning and evening.
If necessary, humidify the air in the apartment. This can be done using a special air humidifier, which can be purchased in the store. If there is none, then during the heating season you can hang wet laundry on hot radiators, and in the warm season, simply spray the room with clean water using your hand or a spray bottle.
Maintain a constant temperature in the apartment. There is no need to hover your child, but you should not allow him to become hypothermic. The optimal temperature for an infant is 24-25 degrees.
Maintain cleanliness in the apartment. This is especially true for the baby’s room; it needs to be wet cleaned twice a week.
Protect your child from contact with soft toys, as they carry germs.
Wash your child's toys regularly with soap. You should purchase rubber or plastic toys for your child. Firstly, they are safer for the baby (the child cannot get hurt), and secondly, they are easy to wash. In addition, the baby should not be allowed to play with small toys and objects. The danger lies in the fact that a child can easily put it in his mouth and choke. Also, a foreign object may become stuck in the throat, and the child may choke.

Exercises and massages have a positive effect on improving the baby’s health. They have a strengthening effect on the baby’s body as a whole. You should choose a simple type of massage that the mother can do to the baby on her own at home. The same goes for charging.
Thus, it is within the power of loving parents to do everything so that the baby develops a strong immune system and the child is exposed to various diseases as little as possible. And if the baby does get sick with something and starts coughing, don’t panic. The main thing is to take timely measures and provide assistance to the baby so that the illness does not last too long!

When an adult coughs, it’s a nuisance, but when a baby coughs, it’s a real tragedy. The child cannot say that it hurts, he just cries. Parents do not understand what to do and what to grab onto. In order to help your child, you first need to calm down. Then you need to visit a pediatrician, preferably one who has a good reputation. And then - strictly follow the doctor’s instructions and monitor the child’s condition.

Causes of cough in infants

Cough is a pathological condition that often occurs in childhood. A cough does not always need to be eliminated with pills. In order to begin treatment, you need to show the child to a specialist, and only then resort to medication. Respiratory infections cause pathological processes in the upper or lower respiratory tract, as a result of which the baby begins to cough.

Airway inflammation usually begins with a dry cough that becomes wet over time. If the nature of the cough does not change for a long time, it means that the child has developed a complication.

Causes of cough in seemingly healthy infants: foreign body entering the respiratory tract, excessively dry air, cigarette smoke.

Types of cough in infants

Cough can be pathological and physiological. In any case, it is needed to clear the airways. If the cough is caused by excessive crying or the baby choking on milk, there is no need to treat it. Clearing the airways and a calm environment will help.

A pathological cough must be treated, as it indicates an infection has entered the respiratory tract. Types of cough in infants: dry and wet. With a dry cough, no mucus is produced. This type of cough can be a sign of pharyngitis, tracheitis and bronchitis. When phlegm begins to move through the respiratory tract, the cough becomes wet, which means that recovery is near.

The baby has a dry cough

Acute respiratory infections, acute respiratory viral infections, bronchitis, influenza, adenoids, sore throat, sinusitis - all these and many other diseases are accompanied by cough. A sudden cough without signs of a cold indicates that a foreign body has entered the respiratory tract. If you cannot remove it yourself, you must call an ambulance; surgery may be required.

If your baby has a dry cough, you should visit a pediatrician. If you have an allergy, you must remove from the room everything that can cause an allergy. Cough can be a reaction to dust, smoke, wool, pollen and food.

Wet cough in a baby

During the off-season, coughs visit almost every home. Cold air and temperature changes make the respiratory tract vulnerable and defenseless. Any infection that feels at ease in the slush clings to the respiratory organs, which are unprepared for the cold.

A wet cough in an infant is a good cough in which sputum along with pathogenic microorganisms comes out. Under no circumstances should such a cough be suppressed; anything that interferes with breathing must be evacuated. At this time, it is more advisable to use expectorants and mucolytics of plant and synthetic origin. The most common are “Doctor Mom”, “Bronchicum”, “Pectusin”, “Prospan”, “Mukaltin” and others.

Infant cough without fever

A cough is not always accompanied by a high temperature. With ARVI, the nose becomes blocked, the child begins to breathe through the mouth and his airways dry out, as a result of which a cough begins.

A baby's cough without fever may be a consequence of poor environmental conditions. Stale air, gas pollution and tobacco smoke can provoke not only a cough, but also an attack of suffocation. Parents should monitor not only the cleanliness of the air in the room in which the child is located, but also the level of humidity in it.

Cough and runny nose in infants

Every year the environment becomes more unpredictable and aggressive. Sometimes the immune system simply cannot cope with all the attacks that it faces.

Cough and runny nose in infants can occur due to pathogens and bacteria. When a person breathes, he constantly swallows a large number of microbes, which are just waiting for at least a slight weakening of the immune system in order to colonize and multiply in the body. The weaker the immune system, the longer a person is sick. If you do not start treatment on time, the cough will become chronic and then it will be almost impossible to get rid of it.

Cough and wheezing in infants

Newborns are sensitive to air quality, so finding the cause of cough is not easy. It can arise from anything. Because young children have narrow nasal passages, dust accumulates in them much faster than in adults. If an adult understands that his nose is clogged and needs to be cleared, then the child does not understand this and only begins to cry. Coughing and wheezing in a baby may occur due to the fact that a clogged nose does not allow air to pass through normally. In order to solve the problem, you need to install a humidifier, often do wet cleaning, ventilate the room and spend a lot of time outdoors.

Almost all parents, sooner or later, are faced with the question: “How to treat a cough in a baby?”

The fact is that a cough is a natural continuation of an acute respiratory infection, from which it is extremely difficult to protect yourself. First, the mucous surfaces swell and a dry cough occurs, then, in response to this, the baby’s body begins to produce more sputum (mucus) and the cough becomes wet. Mucus protects the baby from a dry cough, but the sputum itself needs to be removed away from the respiratory tract, which is done with a wet cough.

That is why you should not try to fight a wet cough, but should facilitate the passage of mucus (sputum) from the respiratory tract. For this purpose, decoctions of thyme, plantain, licorice or expectorant syrups for the smallest are suitable.

To relieve a baby's dry cough at night, a spoonful of sweetened warm milk before bed is enough.

Cough in infants can last longer than a week, especially in the morning. If we are talking about residual cough, then its duration depends little on the measures taken.

Folk remedies for cough in infants

Traditional medicine is good, but not for newborns. It is only at first glance that it seems that traditional medicine is absolutely safe. In fact, medicinal plants are real medicines that must be given strictly according to the prescription, and without violating the preparation technology.

Traditional medicine can be used only with the permission of a doctor. If parents like a recipe, they should first ask the doctor whether it is possible to give such a homemade mixture to the child or not.

Folk remedies for cough in infants: egg mixture, linden tea, chamomile decoction with honey and others. In order to prepare the egg mixture, you need to take a glass of milk, a tablespoon of butter, a tablespoon of honey, an egg yolk and ¼ teaspoon of soda. Heat everything, mix and take three times a day. The dose depends on the patient's age. If we are talking about an infant, then first you need to ask your pediatrician how harmless this medicine is in your particular case.

Cough in newborns can be physiological (natural) in nature. This is due to the stage of development of the respiratory tract. It is absolutely normal and should not cause concern if the baby coughs about 15 times a day.

Why does the baby cough?

The cause of a cough in an infant may lie in phenomena that are absolutely natural for this age:

Lying on your back for too long.
The baby does not know how to swallow saliva.
The body has not adapted to the natural secretions of the bronchi.
Coughing up leftover milk.
There are elements in the air of the room that irritate the mucous membranes (chemicals, dust, tobacco smoke).

Parents should pay attention and monitor the child’s condition. If the cough is accompanied by other disturbing symptoms or is too strong and prolonged, it means the child is sick.

Why is a cough dangerous in a newborn baby?

You should be concerned if your baby coughs frequently or severely. A duration of more than 3 days should be cause for concern. With ARVI or the initial stage of bronchitis, a dry cough after 3 days is replaced by the appearance of a small amount of sputum. , find out more on our website. In this case, the doctor must determine the course of treatment, because the wrong choice of medications or delay in starting therapy can lead to serious complications.

A barking, dry cough may indicate development laryngitis. In the case of infants, parents should immediately call an ambulance. The respiratory tract and pharynx of a baby at this age are very different from the structure of the organs of an adult. In an infant, this disease can cause suffocation.
A wet cough also requires treatment under the supervision of a specialist, but is less dangerous. As a rule, this symptom accompanies cold or runny nose. In this case, coughing attacks are more intense in the morning due to the accumulation of mucus, which begins to flow down the back wall of the larynx.
Cough may be a symptom of heart pathology. Also, it often accompanies an allergic reaction, which, according to recent research by scientists, is the main cause of the development of bronchial asthma and other serious diseases.
In recent years, doctors have observed a significant increase in the number of babies born with congenital pneumonia. A prolonged wet, debilitating and gurgling cough should be a signal to immediately contact a pediatrician.

At such a young age, the baby cannot explain to his parents what is bothering him. Sometimes, a cough becomes the only signal about the presence of health problems. Many diseases that manifest themselves in this way need to be treated at an early stage. Timely and correctly chosen therapy can completely cure the baby. Delay or incorrect diagnosis can lead to serious consequences.

What to do if your baby is coughing? Of course, you shouldn’t call an ambulance every time you sneeze or cough. Parents should monitor the general condition of the baby, compare it with other symptoms and correctly understand their cause.

If your baby constantly coughs in his sleep

Perhaps the baby has started teething. This period is characterized by copious secretion of saliva. It runs down the throat and can cause a cough.
The baby may cough in his sleep due to too much dry air indoors during the heating season. In this case, moisturizing using special devices will help. You can simply hang damp terry towels on the radiators overnight.
The reason may be allergy for dust or fluff or wool in the baby's bed. Harmful substances that cause coughing can be in washing powder and even furniture. It is important to try to identify the allergen and eliminate it, then the cough will go away on its own.
Horizontal position with a runny nose it can also cause coughing in small children. The onset of a disease that requires seeing a doctor should not be ruled out.

Symptom combined with runny nose

If a baby coughs and sneezes, most often the combination of these symptoms indicates the development of colds or upper respiratory tract infections. It is important to monitor the general condition of the baby. Fever, lack of appetite, moodiness and lethargy will signal the need to immediately call a doctor.

The reason may also be allergic reaction, dry air and harmless excess mucus, which the baby does not yet know how to swallow. Read about the reasons for the accumulation of mucus in a child’s throat.

Symptom combined with wheezing

It happens that the baby coughs and wheezes. The combination of these symptoms should alert parents. In most cases, this indicates the beginning inflammatory process in the respiratory tract. They can be caused by a common cold, but a bacterial or viral infection can also occur. These diseases require treatment with antibacterial drugs in a hospital setting.

If the problem occurs after feeding

The baby often coughs during or after feeding. The reason may be excess lactation at mom's. In this case, try changing the feeding position so that the baby has time to spit out the milk in time without touching the mother's breast.

Cough after feeding may precede belching. This is normal. Perhaps the baby was very hungry or, due to his excellent appetite, ate too quickly and gasped for air. In this case, a cough may also appear after feeding.

Let's figure out how and how to safely treat a cough in a baby.

How to treat your baby

Parents have every right to know what medications are prescribed to their children for diseases manifested by cough, but only a doctor can determine the course of treatment for an infant in each specific case.

To treat cough in infants, the following is prescribed:

What to do if a baby or older child coughs, Dr. Komarovsky will tell you in the video below.

Due to weak immunity, newborns often get sick. The most common symptom of the disease is a cough in an infant without fever. A cough is not always a symptom of a cold; allergies, heart disease, and inflammation often manifest themselves this way, so if this symptom appears, not accompanied by a fever, you should immediately consult a doctor.

There are cases of cough that are not associated with illness. For example: when dust gets into the bronchi or trachea, in this case a cough will appear as a protective mechanism that activates the cleansing of the body from foreign bodies. If snot or breast milk accumulates in the trachea, the body calls for a dry cough to help get rid of these accumulations. Also, if a child chokes on saliva or milk, this symptom may appear.

Disease or defense reaction

A cough that is not caused by a disease can be observed in a child only a few times a day and be short-lived, and the baby’s well-being will not deteriorate. To get rid of this symptom, you need to hold the baby upright, so the stuck pieces of food will leave his body faster. You also need to ventilate the baby’s room more often and humidify the air in it, doing wet cleaning daily.

In other cases, the child’s cough will be pathological in nature, and it should definitely be treated under the supervision of a pediatrician.

Causes of coughing in illnesses

Dry cough

Cough and runny nose

A baby's cough and snot can be caused by pathogenic microorganisms that enter the child's body along with the air. With weak immunity, bacteria multiply very quickly, aggravating the course of the disease.

In this case, it is necessary to immediately prescribe treatment to prevent complications.
Cough and wheezing
Due to the narrow passages of the nose, infants are very sensitive to the quality of the air they inhale. If a child's nose is clogged with dust from dirty air, he may develop a runny nose and wheezing, as the baby cannot breathe fully.
To prevent this, it is necessary to frequently do wet cleaning, maintain ventilation and humidify the air.
This list describes only the main causes of cough in an infant, and only a doctor can make the correct diagnosis when examining the baby.
How to cure a cough
Only a doctor can prescribe appropriate treatment for a baby, since improper treatment can lead to serious complications.

The only thing parents can do is to ease the child’s cough by following these recommendations:
Maintaining normal humidity levels in the house. To do this, you need to collect water in containers and place them near working batteries.
If a runny nose appears along with a cough, you need to put a pillow under the baby's head so that the snot goes away faster.
If your baby has a wet cough, you can do a back massage, which will help get rid of phlegm quite quickly.
It is necessary to ventilate the room more often or walk with the baby in the fresh air, dressing the child well, since a small amount of oxygen only aggravates the course of the disease.

Traditional methods
Traditional methods of treatment in most cases are not suitable for infants. Therefore, they can be used to treat children only under the supervision of a pediatrician. If, during consultation, the doctor allows treatment with traditional methods, the following may be suitable for infants:
Egg mixture. For preparation you will need: 200 g of milk, 1 tbsp. l. butter, 1 tbsp. l. honey, 1 egg yolk, 0.25 tsp. soda All ingredients need to be mixed, heated and given to the child 3 times a day.
Linden tea.
Chamomile decoction with honey. This decoction will help not only treat coughs, but also eliminate inflammatory processes.
Tea with lemon balm.

All teas and decoctions are prepared according to the same principle: dry leaves or twigs must be poured with boiling water and allowed to brew. Before treating a baby with these infusions, they must be cooled.
Any cough can jeopardize the health and future development of the baby, so parents need to constantly ensure preventive measures against this symptom.
Prevention is as follows:
After going outside and when in contact with various types of contaminants, both parents and the baby must wash their hands thoroughly.
If you see that a person is coughing, you should not bring the newborn close to him, as his immunity is still too weak.
There is no need to keep flowering plants or animals in the house during the first year of a baby’s life.
To prevent a cough and runny nose, you should take your child for walks in the fresh air more often or, if this is not possible, at least ventilate the apartment.
After the first month, you need to start hardening the newborn.
Under no circumstances should you smoke in front of your child.
The mother should eat properly and take prescribed vitamins.

Doctor's prescriptions for ARVI
Often, a cough and runny nose, not accompanied by a fever, indicate an acute respiratory viral infection. Many doctors, based on the situation, recommend treatment with the following methods:
Antiviral drugs. They call for treating a sick child using immunomodulatory drugs that have antiviral properties. Here it is important to choose a medicine that is suitable for an infant; candles are most often used.
If your baby is suffering from snot, you need to rinse your nose. This procedure is necessary so that the baby’s mucous membranes do not dry out due to mouth breathing, which makes cough treatment difficult. For newborns, rinsing is done using a saline solution, which is dripped into each nostril, three drops. After the procedure, a special oil solution, for example “Ectericide,” is dripped into the baby’s nose once, which will provide protection to the mucous membrane. Under no circumstances should you use antibacterial drops.

A baby's cough without fever makes young parents worry about the baby's health. Pediatricians advise not to panic - 10 to 20 coughs per day are considered normal in infancy. But if the baby coughs nonstop or the cough does not go away for several days, and the reason is unclear, you should show the baby to the doctor. A cough without fever can be triggered by the entry of a foreign body, allergens or dust into the respiratory tract, the onset of a cold, or the backflow of stomach contents into the esophagus.

Why does an infant cough?

A cough in an infant against a background of normal temperature is often physiological in nature. It is necessary to clear the airways of obstructions. In the morning - from accumulated natural mucus, during sleep or feeding - from trapped liquid (saliva, milk).

An incipient ARVI or other infectious disease can provoke a cough in a baby. Often a cough without fever is a residual phenomenon after a runny nose and an allergic reaction or a manifestation of reflux.

Parents cannot always recognize the nature of a cough on their own. In such a situation, consultation with a pediatrician is necessary.

Dry or polluted air

There is no fever, no runny nose, but a cough in a child 1 month or older does not allow him to sleep peacefully. This is exactly the complaint often heard from mothers during the cold season. Hot radiators and insufficient ventilation are the cause of dry air in residential areas.

With a normal value of 50%, humidity in apartments rarely reaches 35%. This provokes an oversaturation of the air with dust particles and allergens (at normal humidity levels they settle on surfaces), causing the child’s nose and throat to dry out.

The baby inhales polluted air, dust and allergens fall on the delicate mucous membrane of the respiratory tract, and the body immediately reacts by coughing without fever.

Cold

Almost all mothers have encountered the situation when a newborn coughs and starts to snot, but there is no fever. In the first days, a cold manifests itself as a sore throat, which the baby cannot yet talk about, then a runny nose appears. Mucus flows down the back wall of the larynx, irritates the mucous membrane and provokes an annoying cough even when the temperature remains normal.

A wet cough in an infant is also often associated with a runny nose that has already been treated.

A small amount of mucus still remains in the sinuses. It gets into the throat and causes a wet cough. During a visit to the pediatrician, the temperature is normal, the doctor does not hear wheezing, but notices mucus flowing down the walls of the larynx.

Inflammation of the middle ear

Otitis media in infants develops as a consequence of a runny nose, tonsillitis, pharyngitis, and laryngitis. An infection from the pharynx and nasal cavity very quickly spreads to the Eustachian tube and moves into the middle ear.

Therefore, if the body temperature is not elevated, but the baby coughs, is restless, and begins to cry when you press on the tragus, immediately go to the otolaryngologist.

Foreign body

A sudden dry cough in an infant without fever is often caused by a foreign body entering the respiratory tract. This could be saliva or food, cookie crumbs or any small part that falls into the child's hands. Often a cough is caused by a clot of snot, which the baby inhales sharply.

Incorrect posture while sleeping or feeding

A 1 month old newborn's cough often begins during breastfeeding. Women who have become mothers for the first time cannot immediately understand on their own what is causing this phenomenon, because the baby is outwardly healthy and has a normal temperature. There can be several reasons for cough during feeding:

milk flows from the nipple very intensely, the baby does not have time to swallow and chokes on it;
the baby does not fully grasp the entire nipple, because of this air gets into the mouth along with the milk;
The child buries his nose into his chest.

A cough without fever may also appear if the baby cannot breathe normally due to mucus or crusts accumulated in the nose. This can also cause a cough in a baby during sleep.

To avoid problems, you need to make sure that your baby is latching onto the breast correctly.

After feeding, you need to hold the baby for several minutes so that his body is in an upright position. And if he starts coughing while eating, put him on one hand so that his head is slightly lower than his body and lightly stroke his back towards the back of his head.

Other reasons

A wet cough in a baby without fever may be a sign of reflux (reflux of food from the stomach into the esophagus). This condition is not uncommon in children. In most cases, by 5-6 months the problem is resolved without medical intervention.

If after feeding the child not only coughs, but also spits up profusely, you should seek help from a doctor.

You cannot ignore a paroxysmal cough, which is accompanied by whistling, bluish skin, or if the baby begins to choke, but the temperature is normal. This may result in a strong reaction to any allergen or bronchial asthma. In most cases, these pathological conditions are related.

What should parents do first?

How to help a baby during a cough and alleviate the baby’s condition, mothers and fathers are taught in courses for future parents. But it is important to remember what to do if a coughing attack without fever lasts longer than 2-3 minutes:

Make sure that clothes and diapers do not interfere with free breathing. Do not swaddle your baby tightly. You should wear clothes that are not too tight. Unbutton the top button of the blouse and remove the scarf (if the attack started while walking).
If the body temperature is normal, go out with the child to the balcony, into the yard (the air should be cool), ventilate the room well (pre-dress the baby so that he does not freeze).
Keep baby upright.
If a foreign body gets into the respiratory tract, lower the head below the body (hold it so that it does not hang down), lightly pat the back until normal breathing is restored.
If a baby coughs due to a runny nose without fever, you can use vasoconstrictor drops for babies (Nazol Baby, Otrivin), and rinse the nose with saline solution (No-Sol, Aqua Maris) before feeding.

To relieve cough, infants older than 6 months are given warm drinks in small sips (between attacks).

How to treat a baby’s cough in the future

If you are going to cure a cough, you need to show the baby to the pediatrician. After the examination, the specialist will determine whether therapy is necessary (if so, he will prescribe medications) or whether the cough is not dangerous and will go away on its own.

Antitussives

Medicines from the group of antitussives (Butamirat, Sinekod) are prescribed only if coughing attacks are repeated frequently and exhaust the child. When treating a dry cough, antitussives are used for 3-4 days (longer only for whooping cough).

In parallel with drugs that suppress the excitation of the cough center, No-Shpu or another antispasmodic is prescribed, which reduces the likelihood of bronchospasm.

Expectorants and mucolytics

When a cough without fever becomes productive (usually on days 3-4), doctors recommend syrups and drops that dilute mucus and stimulate its excretion. Herbal remedies - Eucabal, Gedelix, Taisa syrup - help treat wet cough in infants. Mucolytics (Fluditec, Ambroxol) are given to babies only as prescribed by a doctor.

The baby cannot cough or spit out mucus on its own.

To help your baby clear his airways at normal body temperature, doctors recommend lightly rubbing the chest in a circular motion.

Starting from the 6th month of life, warming ointments Eucabal, Doctor IOM can be used to treat cough, but only on the recommendation of a pediatrician.

Creating comfortable conditions

It often happens that a cough does not go away for a long time even though the baby is healthy and has a normal temperature. Daily walks in a place where the air is not polluted by exhaust gases or dust will help get rid of this unpleasant symptom. The children's room must be ventilated several times a day and wet cleaning done daily.

It is extremely important that the air in the house is not too warm (no higher than 20°C) or dry.

How to treat a cough in an infant with massage

In the case of a wet cough in a 1-month-old child or older, massage of the chest and back is effective. The procedure is done if the baby has a normal temperature, twice a day, an hour after meals.

With warm palms, gently rub the sternum and rib area (also on the side). When the skin turns slightly pink, lightly pat with palms cupped and tap with fingertips. Then the baby is turned over with his back up and the same movements are repeated. At the end of the massage, the baby is placed so that his legs are slightly higher than his head - this is necessary so that the mucus comes out more easily.